The predictable downward revision cycle for the global economic outlook has officially begun. That’s the message from the semi-annual World Economic Outlook just released by the International Monetary Fund, which reinforces earlier revisions from several prominent private forecasting teams.

The Biden administration’s long-awaited strategic framework for trade with China may not be more effective than Trump’s. But it’s imperative to avoid harm and to push for new engagement consensus.

The current lockdowns in China have the potential for substantial disruptions of supply chains and business on a global scale.

The world is largely off track in terms of achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. But China’s Global Development Initiative and Belt and Road Initiative can work together for a better future.

Russia’s deep integration in the global energy market is the result of a long and complex interaction of many actors in the value chain. Therefore, so-called moral clarity will require precise, case-by-case analysis of real-world facts. The outcome remains to be seen.

The Ukraine conflict will hit low-income developing countries with particular ferocity. These countries are not in Europe, nor are they involved in the war. Yet their people will suffer soaring energy costs, hunger, poverty and financial ruin.

Dual circulation is set to reorient China’s economy as Beijing rethinks how it will engage with the world.

In early March, Premier Li Keqiang announced that China is targeting GDP growth of “about 5.5%” this year. That would be ambitious even without Russia’s war against Ukraine and the attendant increases in global energy and food prices. Back in January, for example, the International Monetary Fund forecast that the Chinese economy would grow by only 4.8% in 2022. And in 2019, the last full year before the COVID-19 pandemic, GDP increased by just under 6%.

The financial sanctions that are being placed on Russia have put the focus onto the over reliance of global trade on the U.S. dollar, especially when it comes to precious oil. Now, Saudi Arabia is preparing for the first time ever to start pricing some oil exports in the yuan which could lead to massive ripple effects in the energy market.

Punishments of Russia cut both ways for the West and may even be self-defeating. The European and U.S. economies are suffering a backlash in rising energy prices, shrinking corporate profits and inflation-induced economic hardships.